To promote pollination, certain flowers attract insects by mimicking their sexual partners. In the case of orchids, the flower, by its color, furry body, and smell, mimics the female of a species of wasp.

Parthenocarpy (Latin for “maiden fruit”) refers to the development of fruit without fertilization. The process produces a sterile fruit which lacks seeds. This method of reproduction results in fruit that are clones of each other.

This natural phenomenon is simply amazing: about once a year a veritable wall of sea foam, sometimes reaching heights up to 9 feet, smashes on to shore. In order for this freaky event to occur certain factors need to be present: it's created by wind and waves churning up organic matter in the ocean. Decaying algae offshore are also often a major contributor.

There is a crooked forest in Western Poland where over 400 pine trees grow horizontally (90-degree bend at the base of their trunks). It seems like the trees grew normally for 7-10 years, then developed this curvature in the trunk structure.

Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all the same weather phenomenon; we just use different names for these storms in different locations. In the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, the term “hurricane” is used.

You have surely seen a classic rainbow. But have you ever heard of a fire rainbow? They are neither fire nor rainbows, but are labelled as such because of their brilliant pastel colors and flame- like appearance.

An apocryphal story explains it this way when Augustus Caesar claimed control of the Roman Empire. He wanted August (the month named after him) to have as many days as July (month named after his predecessor Julius Caesar). From that point on, August had 31 days, after he eliminated two days from February, leaving it with 28 days.

In medieval times, a castle’s spiral staircase were usually made of stone and rose in a clockwise fashion when looking up from the bottom. So this way, the attacking swordsmen ascending the stairs, would have his swing blocked by the wall.

During 18th-century naval battles it was not the cannonballs themselves that posed a danger, but the explosion of wood that occurred during the firing process. This process often resulted in injuries of the men on the bridge. In fact, cannonballs do not explode.

Lavoisier, also known as The Father of Modern Chemistry, was guillotined on May 8, 1794 (during the Reign of Terror) in Paris, at the age of 50, along with his 27 co-defendants. Although widely circulated as being true (doubtful) Lavoisier apparently requested a 15 day stay of execution in order to finish his research.

Scientific studies reveal that lefties have a lower life expectancy than right-handed people. This discrepancy is due to the fact that our society is geared towards right-handed individuals. For example, lefties are victims of more work-related accidents than their counterparts as most machinery is designed for right-handed workers.

An unorthodox funeral tradition exists in certain regions of China and Taiwan. Strippers are hired to cavort near the gravesite in order to guarantee a full house at the ceremony. Apparently the number of attendees is directly proportionate to the respect given to the deceased.

Alec Momont, a young Belgian engineer has designed an ambulance-drone capable of being dispatched to the scene of an accident (radius of 7.5 square miles) in a minute as opposed to the 10 minutes travel time of a regular ambulance.

As unbelievable as it may seem, snow fell on the Sahara Desert on February 18, 1979. Furthermore, the word Sahara in Arabic means desert so by saying Sahara Desert one is, in fact, uttering a redundant phrase.

It is estimated that all the gold produced since the beginning of mankind would weigh a total of 163 000 tonnes. If all this precious metal would be melted down to form a cube, each side would not exceed 21 meters.

The Marvel Superheroes Hulk and Iron Man first appeared as grey-colored characters. Fearing that this color would minimize their impact on the printed page, they became the now-familiar green and reddish-yellow.

While it is common knowledge that wearing green on stage brings bad luck, do you know the origins of this superstition? First of all, during the 18th century green dye contained arsenic, and Molière, the famous playwright, died while clad in green.